Hey 3.8L owners
Question:
Hi all, I have a 92 Regal with a 3.8L with 95K miles. How long do the timing chains last on these things? Has anyone ever replaced one? On initial start of the day I get a little rattle in the motor. It goes away within 30 sec to a minute. I’ve taken the serpentine belt off and started the engine to make sure it wasn’t the a/c or idler pulley bearings but the rattle is still there. The Buick dealer says it is common on early 90’s 3.8L due to poor quality control on the part of the wrist pin maker. They said the rattle is caused by variances in the wrist pins from cylinder to cylinder. They said the rattle was always there I just never noticed it before. I din not believe the dealer so I checked All Data and sure enough there is a service bulletin on cold start rattle and wrist pins. A local independent shop says it’s "probably" the timing chain. Anybody ever have this problem before? Thanks, Scott
Response:
I can’t speak for early 90s 3.8s, but I had an 81 Buick Century that had the 3.8, and the timing chain lasted until 123K miles. It was a great car and a great engine. I miss it. Luckily when it broke the engine was not damaged. Had a friend with an 85 Buick Park Ave. It also had the 3.8 (but with FI whereas mine was cabrureted). The timing chain on it lasted until 151K miles. However, I know it had had slop in it long before that because the idle was VERY erratic by then. If you checked the timing with a timing light, it jumped all over the place- which is a sure sign of a worn chain. I told my friend to have the chain replaced, and after having that done, the mechanics did not prime the oil pump before starting the motor (the oil pump base IS the timing cover itself, so it was distubred during reassembly). This caused major bearing wear within a very short time. The engine lasted maybe another 500 miles before developing a rod knock and eventually throwing a rod on the interstate in Pennsylvania- which was a LOT of fun let me tell you. But, then, the car WAS 13 years old and had 152K miles on it- so who could complain about that. I have no idea about the 90s 3.8s and their wrist pins, but the early ones were good, and the later ones were supposed to be much better than even the early ones were (especially when they modifed them with SFI and renamed them the 3800 V6). In any case, see if your timing mark jumps around a LOT at idle while you point a timing light at the mark on the pulley. If it does, then you probably do have a worn chain. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi all, > I have a 92 Regal with a 3.8L with 95K miles. How long do the timing chains > last on these things? Has anyone ever replaced one? On initial start of > the day I get a little rattle in the motor. It goes away within 30 sec to a > minute. I’ve taken the serpentine belt off and started the engine to make > sure it wasn’t the a/c or idler pulley bearings but the rattle is still > there. The Buick dealer says it is common on early 90’s 3.8L due to poor > quality control on the part of the wrist pin maker. They said the rattle is > caused by variances in the wrist pins from cylinder to cylinder. They said > the rattle was always there I just never noticed it before. I din not > believe the dealer so I checked All Data and sure enough there is a service > bulletin on cold start rattle and wrist pins. A local independent shop says > it’s "probably" the timing chain. Anybody ever have this problem before? > Thanks, > Scott
Response:
>Hi all, >I have a 92 Regal with a 3.8L with 95K miles. How long do the timing chains >last on these things? Has anyone ever replaced one? On initial start of >the day I get a little rattle in the motor. It goes away within 30 sec to a >minute. I’ve taken the serpentine belt off and started the engine to make
My father owns a 92 Pontiac Transport with the exact same engine.. The "rattle" (More like a ticking, actually) on the initial startup is pretty commonplace with these engines and is nothing to be worried about. I think it’s more of a hydraulic lifter thing then a wristpin problem. His has just over 200,000 Kms (124,000 Miles) and it’s all original, completely untouched, and still runs like a top.. These engines are notorious as being bulletproof.. Given regular oil changes they will go for a very, very long time, and to the best of my knowledge they are not inference engines, so I wouldn’t get too worried about the timing chain at this point. — Mark – Oshawa, Ontario, Canada Chevy Astro / GMC Safari Message Board! Click Below! http://pub37.ezboard.com/bchevyastroandgmcsafari
Response:
I have a 90 Bonneville with the same 3800 engine that I recently switched to Mobil 1 synthetic 0w30 and all of the clatter and clicking on startup has gradually disapeared. My next door neighbor noticed the same on his 3800 too on Mobil 1. Coincidence? Maybe… Joe Garcia
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi all, > I have a 92 Regal with a 3.8L with 95K miles. How long do the timing chains > last on these things? Has anyone ever replaced one? On initial start of > the day I get a little rattle in the motor. It goes away within 30 sec to a > minute. I’ve taken the serpentine belt off and started the engine to make > sure it wasn’t the a/c or idler pulley bearings but the rattle is still > there. The Buick dealer says it is common on early 90’s 3.8L due to poor > quality control on the part of the wrist pin maker. They said the rattle is > caused by variances in the wrist pins from cylinder to cylinder. They said > the rattle was always there I just never noticed it before. I din not > believe the dealer so I checked All Data and sure enough there is a service > bulletin on cold start rattle and wrist pins. A local independent shop says > it’s "probably" the timing chain. Anybody ever have this problem before? > Thanks, > Scott
Response:
I use Mobil1 5W30 now, next time I’ll try the 0W30. Scott
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I have a 90 Bonneville with the same 3800 engine that I recently switched to > Mobil 1 synthetic 0w30 and all of the clatter and clicking on startup has > gradually disapeared. > My next door neighbor noticed the same on his 3800 too on Mobil 1. > Coincidence? Maybe… > Joe Garcia > Hi all, > I have a 92 Regal with a 3.8L with 95K miles. How long do the timing > chains > last on these things? Has anyone ever replaced one? On initial start of > the day I get a little rattle in the motor. It goes away within 30 sec to > a > minute. I’ve taken the serpentine belt off and started the engine to make > sure it wasn’t the a/c or idler pulley bearings but the rattle is still > there. The Buick dealer says it is common on early 90’s 3.8L due to poor > quality control on the part of the wrist pin maker. They said the rattle > is > caused by variances in the wrist pins from cylinder to cylinder. They > said > the rattle was always there I just never noticed it before. I din not > believe the dealer so I checked All Data and sure enough there is a > service > bulletin on cold start rattle and wrist pins. A local independent shop > says > it’s "probably" the timing chain. Anybody ever have this problem before? > Thanks, > Scott
Response:
I have a 92 Olds 88 with the 3.8L and I’ve got 263,000 km (about 164,000 miles). The engine has been a great runner but I have had some problems with sensors. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Hi all, > I have a 92 Regal with a 3.8L with 95K miles. How long do the timing chains > last on these things? Has anyone ever replaced one? On initial start of > the day I get a little rattle in the motor. It goes away within 30 sec to a > minute. I’ve taken the serpentine belt off and started the engine to make > sure it wasn’t the a/c or idler pulley bearings but the rattle is still > there. The Buick dealer says it is common on early 90’s 3.8L due to poor > quality control on the part of the wrist pin maker. They said the rattle is > caused by variances in the wrist pins from cylinder to cylinder. They said > the rattle was always there I just never noticed it before. I din not > believe the dealer so I checked All Data and sure enough there is a service > bulletin on cold start rattle and wrist pins. A local independent shop says > it’s "probably" the timing chain. Anybody ever have this problem before? > Thanks, > Scott
Response:
>I use Mobil1 5W30 now, next time I’ll try the 0W30.
It’s not really a lack of lubrication problem that causes most of the 3.8 clatter.. You’ll still notice it for the first minute or so after startup even in the dog days of summer when it’s +30 outside, and the oil is flowing easilly.. — Mark – Oshawa, Ontario, Canada Chevy Astro / GMC Safari Message Board! Click Below! http://pub37.ezboard.com/bchevyastroandgmcsafari
Response:
>I have a 90 Bonneville with the same 3800 engine that I recently switched to >Mobil 1 synthetic 0w30 and all of the clatter and clicking on startup has >gradually disapeared. >My next door neighbor noticed the same on his 3800 too on Mobil 1. >Coincidence? Maybe…
By any chance did you change makes of oil filters, too? And were you using Fram before?
Response:
What is the cause of the clatter??
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I use Mobil1 5W30 now, next time I’ll try the 0W30. > It’s not really a lack of lubrication problem that causes most of the > 3.8 clatter.. You’ll still notice it for the first minute or so > after startup even in the dog days of summer when it’s +30 outside, > and the oil is flowing easilly.. > — > Mark – Oshawa, Ontario, Canada > Chevy Astro / GMC Safari Message Board! Click Below! > http://pub37.ezboard.com/bchevyastroandgmcsafari
Response:
No I use AC filters. I bet you use Mann filters!!! Ok, bad joke but good filters! Scott – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I have a 90 Bonneville with the same 3800 engine that I recently switched to >Mobil 1 synthetic 0w30 and all of the clatter and clicking on startup has >gradually disapeared. >My next door neighbor noticed the same on his 3800 too on Mobil 1. >Coincidence? Maybe… > By any chance did you change makes of oil filters, too? And were you using > Fram before?
Response:
>What is the cause of the clatter??
Lifters, mostly.. The majority of the 3.8 class is mainly valvetrain.. Even relatively new 3.8’s have the clatter upon cold starting, although some are more noticable then others. On the older (Early 90’s) it’s quite noticable, however, but nothing to be worried about as long as it goes away (or becomes noticably quieter) after warming up. — Mark – Oshawa, Ontario, Canada Chevy Astro / GMC Safari Message Board! Click Below! http://pub37.ezboard.com/bchevyastroandgmcsafari
Response:
Thanks for the info, it was helpful!
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->What is the cause of the clatter?? > Lifters, mostly.. > The majority of the 3.8 class is mainly valvetrain.. Even relatively > new 3.8’s have the clatter upon cold starting, although some are more > noticable then others. On the older (Early 90’s) it’s quite > noticable, however, but nothing to be worried about as long as it goes > away (or becomes noticably quieter) after warming up. > — > Mark – Oshawa, Ontario, Canada > Chevy Astro / GMC Safari Message Board! Click Below! > http://pub37.ezboard.com/bchevyastroandgmcsafari
